Mutual admiration as Parkland students celebrate milestones

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 24: Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Samantha Fuentes, who was shot in the face during the Parkland shooting, speaks during the March for Our Lives rally on March 24, 2018 in Washington, DC. More than 800 March for Our Lives events, organized by survivors of the Parkland, Florida school shooting on February 14 that left 17 dead, are taking place around the world to call for legislative action to address school safety and gun violence.

Mutual admiration as Parkland students celebrate milestones

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 24: Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Samantha Fuentes, who was shot in the face during the Parkland shooting, speaks during the March for Our Lives rally on March 24, 2018 in Washington, DC. More than 800 March for Our Lives events, organized by survivors of the Parkland, Florida school shooting on February 14 that left 17 dead, are taking place around the world to call for legislative action to address school safety and gun violence.

MIAMI — Samantha Fuentes, one of the Parkland school shooting survivors who gave emotional speeches at the March for Our Lives in Washington, has something to celebrate: Three months after the attack, she says “My face is finally shrapnel free!”

Fuentes tweeted a photo of her face on Saturday, showing a wide smile despite bruises and a hospital bandage stretching from her ear to her mouth.

“Regardless of the fact I look like I lost a fight, inside I’m winning in a way. I’ve been struggling so hard to love my face again, thank you for all your support,” she tweeted.

My face is finally shrapnel free! Regardless of the fact I look like I lost a fight, inside I’m winning in a way. I’ve been struggling so hard to love my face again, thank you for all your support. pic.twitter.com/3Y7q7fNniq

The speech Fuentes gave in Washington was memorable not only because she led the huge crowd in singing “Happy Birthday” for Nick Dworet, a classmate who was among the 17 people killed in the attack, and who would have turned 18 the day of the march. She also had to interrupt her speech to throw up behind the podium.

Fuentes is among the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students who have made a point of reaching out to other young shooting survivors as they campaign for gun controls. She was honored with a Freedom of Expression Courage Award by PEN, the literary and human rights organization, for representing “an inclusive group of young people” in that effort.

Earlier Saturday, some of her classmates met in Miami with James Shaw Jr., the man who grabbed the hot muzzle of an AR-15 and wrestled it away from a gunman who killed four people and injured four others at a Waffle House in Tennessee. They too shared photos on social media, expanding a mutual admiration society.